HYDERABAD: Fortune favours the brave. This adage has turned true for the farmers who went in for paddy in Rabi, disregarding the government’s direction to the contrary. Those who heeded the advice and stayed away from paddy are now envious of their brethren who grew paddy, with the State government making a categorical statement that it would buy all Rabi paddy from the farmers till the last grain left with them. In the open market too, because of lack of enough production, the farmers are getting a good price.
After the Centre had made it clear that FCI would not procure parboiled rice this Rabi season, the State government had advised farmers not to cultivate paddy, and that it will not be opening paddy procurement centres (PPC). Announcements were made in villages through ‘tom-tom’, to this effect. Meetings were held at Rythu Vedikas, where ministers, MLAs, officials and local people’s representatives, tried to encourage farmers to go in for alternative crops for Rabi.
The awareness created by the establishment did work to an extent, as the area of cultivation of paddy has come down by 17 lakh acres as compared to the last Rabi season. Most of these farmers were from areas under canal irrigation.
Due to the State government’s policy decision, large swathes of lands under the ayacut of the Priyadarshini Jurala project were left barren by the farmers. Farmers in the villages of Athmakur, Amarchinta, Madanapuram, Pebbair, Dharur and other areas, where paddy has been the principal crop since the project’s inception, have left their lands barren. In some villages where paddy was grown in 4,000 acres last Rabi season, this year it was cultivated only in 300 acres.
Good inflows into canals
“Due to good rains last year, Narayanpur and Almatti projects were full, which resulted in Jurala getting good inflows. There was plenty of water, but farmers couldn’t grow paddy because of the uncertainty in procurement. The water released in the canals just went waste into the local streams, and farmers couldn’t use it,” said Krishna Vardhan Reddy, a farmer from Ajjakollu village of Madanapuram village in Wanaparthy district.
While the small and medium farmers had to be content with accepting Rythu Bandhu amount of Rs 5,000 per acre and declaring crop holiday in Rabi, those who took the risk have been getting a good price because of low production driving high demand in the open market. Presently, paddy with even high moisture content is being procured by private players in Jogulamba Gadwal and Wanaparthy districts for Rs 1,700 per quintal.
Irrespective of political party affiliations, farmers have been expressing their anguish over the lost opportunity. “It would have been better if the State government had negotiated with the FCI on the broken rice problem much before. They should have then maintained their focus on alternative crops. After all the animosity and confrontation, finally, they have agreed to deliver raw rice. The State government should have handled the situation better,” said Kanneganti Ravi, leader of Rythu Swarajya Vedika.